The Baniwa Jiquitaia Pepper: Flavor, Biodiversity, and Culture
Learn about Jiquitaia, a blend of peppers grown by Baniwa women in the Upper Rio Negro, Amazon
CRIA - Centro de Referência em Informação Ambiental
Luiza F. A. de Paula
Flora Brasiliensis: Vol. I, Part I, Fasc. See Urban Plate 25 (1906)CRIA - Centro de Referência em Informação Ambiental
The Rio Negro and the naturalists
The Rio Negro is the largest tributary on the left bank of the Amazon River. Due to its grandeur, it has piqued the curiosity of many naturalists.
The Rio Negro and the naturalists
For example, the German naturalists Martius and Spix, on their expedition through Brazil (1817-1820), spent time on its waters and recorded its biodiversity and local customs. This lithograph from the work Flora Brasiliensis records a region of the Rio Japurá, close to the Rio Negro.
Vol. X, Fasc. 6 Column 141 - 142 (1846-07-01)CRIA - Centro de Referência em Informação Ambiental
Cataloging species
During the expeditions, the naturalists collected and cataloged various species, especially plants and animals. Among these species recorded in the Amazon, the Baniwa Jiquitaia pepper, of the genus Capsicum, stands out.
The Baniwa Jiquitaia pepper and Flora Brasiliensis
The Jiquitaia pepper was not illustrated in the work Flora Brasiliensis, which compiled the species recorded during the travels of Spix and Martius. However, species of the genus Capsicum were cataloged and morphological descriptions in Latin were produced.
Baniwa Jiquitaia pepper: what is it?
It is a blend of peppers of the genus Capsicum, from the Solanaceae plant family. This is the same family as potato, tomato, and eggplant.
Most of the Jiquitaia varieties belong to the species complex Capsicum chinense-Capsicum frutescens.
Baniwa Jiquitaia pepper: who makes it?
The term "jiquitaia" refers to processed pepper (a mixture of dried and ground pepper with salt). Jiquitaia pepper is produced by the people of the Rio Negro, including the Baniwa, an indigenous Aruak-speaking people, with a total population estimated to be between 15,000 and 18,000 individuals.
Baniwa people of Rio Negro, Amazon
The Baniwa live in approximately 200 communities and settlements, as part of the cultural complex of the Northwestern Amazon, along the middle and upper Rio Negro and its tributaries, especially the Rio Içana, spanning across Brazil, Colombia, and Venezuela.
Traditional knowledge of the Baniwa women
Among the Baniwa, cultivating fields is an ancient practice and primarily the responsibility of the women. They strive to maintain food and nutritional security for various communities. They also create powerful conservation systems and a great agri-food heritage.
Domestication of the pepper
The vast majority of studies indicate Central America as one of the main centers of domestication of peppers belonging to the genus Capsicum. The Northwestern Amazon serves as a reference for the species C. chinense and extends beyond the backyards and farms of the Baniwa.
Traditional Agricultural System of Rio Negro
The Traditional Agricultural System of the Rio Negro is a set of interdependent knowledge and practices for managing cultivation spaces and food processing and storage technologies that characterize the Rio Negro food system.
Traditional Agricultural System of Rio Negro
Since 2010, the Rio Negro Agricultural System has been recognized as Brazilian Cultural Heritage and ensures food security for the indigenous peoples of the region, as well as the maintenance of the forest.
The power of the Jiquitaia pepper
Traditionally, the pepper holds a prominent place in the social and spiritual life of the indigenous communities living in the area, and especially among the Baniwa people: besides culinary and cosmetic use, it is fundamental in initiation ceremonies and healing and protection rituals.
Production of jiquitaia pepper
All Rio Negro families, as well as the Baniwa, produce jiquitaia pepper, which is now marketed beyond their territory. This production constitutes a wide range of cultivated and managed products, which together are part of the Traditional Agricultural System of the Rio Negro.
The highly aromatic Jiquitaia pepper is associated with the consumption of meats, especially fish, and is also consumed with ants.
Vol. I, Part I, Fasc. See Urban Plate 11 (1906)CRIA - Centro de Referência em Informação Ambiental
A dish eaten by the naturalists on their travels through the Amazon?
During their travels in Brazil, did the naturalists try these delicacies? There is a chance they did. Spix was a zoologist and would have been surprised by the texture of the ants, while the botanist Martius would have been delighted with the varieties of the Baniwa pepper.
Research and writing: Luiza F. A. de Paula (Federal University of Minas Gerais / CRIA)
Assembly: Luiza F. A. de Paula
Review: João Renato Stehmann (Federal University of Minas Gerais), Renato De Giovanni (CRIA)
References: Flora Brasiliensis (http://florabrasiliensis.cria.org.br/opus), Travels in Brazil (https://www2.senado.leg.br/bdsf/handle/id/573991), Organização Indígena da Bacia do Içana (Oibi), Instituto Socioambiental (ISA; https://www.socioambiental.org/), Pimenta Jiquitaia Baniwa book (https://loja.socioambiental.org/catalogo/pimenta-jiquitaia-baniwa/)
Additional information: http://florabrasiliensis.cria.org.br/stories
Acknowledgments: All the authors of the photos, ISA team and André Baniwa
*Every effort has been made to credit the images, audio, and video and correctly recount the episodes narrated in the exhibitions. If you find errors and/or omissions, please email contato@cria.org.br
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